Sweden sees road deaths drop to a record low

During the month of March six people died in road traffic accidents in Sweden, according to new preliminary figures released by the Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) on Wednesday.

An additional 922 people were injured, 83 of them severely.

The number of casualties is far below the average, the Transport Agency stated.

“It's the first time we observe so few traffic deaths per month. The number is below half the average for March, as seen over the last ten years,” Transport Agency statistician Khabat Amin said.

The average number of casualties in March in the period 2015-2019 was 15.

Four of the people who died were in a car at the time of the accident, the remaining two were pedestrians hit by a vehicle.

During the period April 2019 – March 2020, 208 people died in road traffic accidents in Sweden. Compared to the average taken from the five previous years, the number of casualties decreased by 24 percent.

Last month's decrease may be linked to fewer people travelling long distances and to and from work. Nationwide statistics on the number of vehicles on the road are not yet available, but figures from both Stockholm and Gothenburg suggest that there has been a drop in traffic during the coronavirus outbreak.

Sweden has not imposed a general lockdown as seen in other countries, but authorities have urged people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.